Inductors and Capacitors

Energy Storage Devices

Aims:
To know:
Basics of energy storage devices.
Storage leads to time delays.
Basic equations for inductors and capacitors.
To be able to do describe:
Energy storage in circuits with a capacitor.
Energy storage in circuits with an inductor.
2

Lecture78
Lecture

Energy Storage and Time Delays

Time to store energy

Time to release energy
Example Flywheel storage

Motor with no
flywheel

Motor speed

Changes in resistor networks

happen instantaneously
No energy is stored in a resistor
network (only dissipated)
Devices which store energy
introduce time delays

Motor with flywheel

Power
on

Power
off

Electronic components that store

energy will force us to think
about how currents and voltages
change with time
Lecture78
Lecture

Capacitor
brass contact

A device to store charge.

Excess charges generate
electrostatic fields.
Electrostatic fields are
associated with energy

glass jar
(insulator)

brass
electrodes

Capacitors are devices to

generate a well-defined
electrostatic field

The Leyden Jar (18th C)

Lecture78
Lecture

Simplest geometry
You will learn that if you take any closed surface
surrounding an isolated charge, the electric field
multiplied by the area of the surface is
proportional to the value of the charge:

+++ ++

+ +++
V
E

- - - - -

Q = 0 EA

(This is Gausss Theorem)

- -- - -

So for this geometry (where we assume that E

is constant over the entire area of the plates)

Parallel plate capacitor (schematic)

Lecture78
Lecture

Simplest geometry
You will learn that if you take any closed surface
surrounding an isolated charge, the electric field
multiplied by the area of the surface is
proportional to the value of the charge:

+++ ++

+ +++
V
E

- - - - -

Q = 0 EA

(This is Gausss Theorem)

- -- - -

So for this geometry (where we assume that E

is constant over the entire area of the plates)

E = V / d , so
Parallel plate capacitor (schematic)

Q=

0VA

C=

0 A

d
or Q = CV , where
d

coulomb per volt

Lecture78
Lecture

Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss

(1777 - 1855)

One of the 19th centurys great minds

Primarily a mathematician, he
worked in Gttingen on many
fundamental aspects of mathematical
physics and statistics

Lecture78
Lecture

Capacitance

Q = CV , where
A
C = 0 coulomb per volt
d
Circuit symbols

C is called the CAPACITANCE of the device.

This is a property of the configuration of the example: A=10 cm x 10 cm and d = 1mm
electrodes
A
C= 0 F
The unit C V-1 is called the FARAD (F).
d
1 Farad is a very large capacitance and
capacitors commonly used range from a few
pF through nF and F to ~1 mF

8.85 10-12 101 101

= 8.85 1011 F
10-3
C = 88.5 pF
C=

A capacitor stores a well defined amount of charge proportional to the voltage.

When it is disconnected from the battery it will store the charge indefinitely.
This is NOT like a battery where the amount of charge GENERATED is
independent of voltage. You can only take out of a capacitor what you put into it
8

Lecture78
Lecture

Capacitance

Q = CV , where
A
C = 0 coulomb per volt
d
Circuit symbols

C is called the CAPACITANCE of the device.

This is a property of the configuration of the example: A=10 cm x 10 cm and d = 1mm
electrodes
A
C= 0 F
The unit C V-1 is called the FARAD (F).
d
1 Farad is a very large capacitance and
capacitors commonly used range from a few
pF through nF and F to ~1 mF

8.85 10-12 101 101

= 8.85 1011 F
10-3
C = 88.5 pF
C=

A capacitor stores a well defined amount of charge proportional to the voltage.

When it is disconnected from the battery it will store the charge indefinitely.
This is NOT like a battery where the amount of charge GENERATED is
independent of voltage. You can only take out of a capacitor what you put into it
Lecture78
Lecture

Michael Faraday
(1791 - 1867)
A great experimentalist and
populariser of science.
He is most famous for his work on
magnetic induction, but also did
fundamental work related to
electrolysis
He worked at the Royal Institution
(one of the first scientific research
institutes) and established the
Christmas Lectures on science for
young people which are still
running.
10

Lecture78
Lecture

Dielectrics
+++ ++

If we place an insulating material

between the plates of our capacitor, the
effective field increases*.

+ +++

E eff = E

V
Eeff = E

- - - - -

- -- - -

Where is a dimensionless property of the

material called the
dielectric constant or relative permittivity.
is usually > 1
e.g. for glass = 8

This increases the capacitance:

C=

0 A
d

* This is because the electron cloud round each atom in the material is distorted by the applied
field and this generates an additional field (this is called the displacement field, D)
Lecture78
Lecture

11

Practical Capacitors
Practical capacitors try to squeeze as much capacitance as possible into the
smallest physical volume:
Large area
Small separation
~5mm
High dielectric constant insulator

e.g. Ceramic disc capacitor

Electrodes are metal (Al, Ag)
evaporated onto two sides of disk
of very high permittivity ceramic
Lecture78
Lecture

12

Practical Capacitors
Plastic film capacitor
Electrodes are metal (Al, Ag)
evaporated onto both sides of a long
ribbon of very thin Mylar foil which
is stacked in a block or rolled up like
a Swiss Roll into a small cylinder

Many other types for a wide

range of applications

Lecture78
Lecture

13

Energy in Capacitors
Imagine a capacitor C charged to a voltage V
If you push into the capacitor a small amount of charge, dQ, then the energy
increases by an amount
dW = VdQ
(energy = charge x voltage)
At the same time the voltage increases by an amount dV, where dQ = CdV
So
dW = CVdV.
To get the total energy stored in a capacitor we need to integrate this
expression:
V

W = CVdV
0

1
W = CV 2 or
2

W=

1
QV
2

Compare this with a battery, where W = QV

Lecture78
Lecture

14

Energy in Capacitors
Imagine a capacitor C charged to a voltage V
If you push into the capacitor a small amount of charge, dQ, then the energy
increases by an amount
dW = VdQ
(energy = charge x voltage)
At the same time the voltage increases by an amount dV, where dQ = CdV
So
dW = CVdV.
To get the total energy stored in a capacitor we need to integrate this
expression:
V

W = CVdV
0

1
W = CV 2 or
2

W=

1
QV
2

Compare this with a battery, where W = QV

Lecture78
Lecture

15

Charging a capacitor

When you first connect a battery to a capacitor:

The voltage across the capacitor is ZERO
The current is high (VB/R)

R
VB

When the capacitor is fully charged:

The voltage across the capacitor is VB
The current is ZERO
For capacitors:
Current leads Voltage

VB/R

VB
Voltage

Q = CV
i=

dQ
dt

so i = C

Current

dV
dt

time

Lecture78
Lecture

16

Series and parallel capacitors

For parallel capacitors, V is the same, so
total charge is given by
C1

C2

C EQ

C1
C EQ

For series capacitors, the CHARGE on each capacitor

must be the same and equal to the net charge.
[The centre electrode has a net charge of zero]

C2

Lecture78
Lecture

17

Series and parallel capacitors

For parallel capacitors, V is the same, so
total charge is given by
C1

C2

C EQ

QTOT = CEQV = Q1 + Q2 = C1V + C2V

Hence:

CEQ = C1 + C2

For series capacitors, the CHARGE on each capacitor

must be the same and equal to the net charge.
[The centre electrode has a net charge of zero]

C1
C EQ

VTOT =

C2

QTOT
Q Q
= V1 + V2 = 1 + 2
CEQ
C1 C2

QTOT = Q1 = Q2
Hence:

1
1
1
= +
CEQ C1 C2
18

Lecture78
Lecture

Inductors: Energy Storage in Magnetic Fields

Flowing electric currents create

magnetic fields

The magnetic field describes the

magnetic force on MOVING
charges. Symbol in equations, B,
units TESLA, (T).

B (r ) =

Right hand rule:

current with thumb,
field with fingers

0 I
2 r

0 is the permeability of free space

a fundamental constant that relates
magnetism to force and energy.
0 = 4 10-7 T A-1 m

Check that

0 0

Lecture78
Lecture

gives the value of the velocity of light

19

Nikola Tesla
(1856 - 1943)
Serbian immigrant to the USA.
Considered to be more of an
inventor than a scientist and is
credited with the idea of using AC
for power transmission.
Much given to spectacular
demonstrations of high voltage
sparks, he became one of the first
scientific superstars in the US.

20

Lecture78
Lecture

Magnetic Flux and Inductance

The total amount of magnetic field crossing a surface is called the flux:
If the field is uniform, the flux is given by

a
Are

= BA T m 2
N turns

For any general coil of N turns carrying current i the

total amount of flux generated is defined as

Li
N

Where L is a parameter depending only on the shape

and number of turns of the coil called INDUCTANCE.
Units: T m2 A-1 or HENRY (symbol H)
Lecture78
Lecture

iI

21

10

Joseph Henry
(1797 - 1878)
Born in upstate New York he worked
on electromagnetism and inductance in
Albany and Princeton.
Was appointed the first Secretary of the
Smithsonian Institution in Washington
in 1864

22

Lecture78
Lecture

Solenoids
The magnetic field can be concentrated
by forming the wire into a coil or
solenoid. For a long solenoid:

B=

0 Ni
l

so =

0 NAi
l

and
L=

Area A

N2A
N
= 0
Henry
i
l

Adding a ferromagnetic (e.g. iron) CORE into the coil can increase the flux
for a given current and so increase the inductance

Lecture78
Lecture

23

11

Practical inductors

Circuit symbols
24

Lecture78
Lecture

Back e.m.f.
When we try to change the current passing through an inductor the
increasing magnetic field induces a reverse voltage which tries to oppose
the change.
V
This depends on the inductance and how
fast the current is changing:

V = L

I
L

dI
dt

This is Lenzs Law which is based on Faradays

laws of magnetic induction.
So we have to do work to overcome this back e.m.f.
and pass current through an inductor
we are storing energy in the magnetic field.
Lecture78
Lecture

25

12

Energy in inductors
V

dI
V = L
dt

I
L

So in a short time dt we have to do a small

amount of work

dW = IVdt = LIdI
to overcome the back e.m.f.
Thus the total energy required to increase the current from 0 to I is
I

W = LIdI =
0

1 2
LI
2

This is the energy stored in an inductor

26

Lecture78
Lecture

Energy in inductors
V

dI
V = L
dt

I
L

So in a short time dt we have to do a small

amount of work

dW = IVdt = LIdI
to overcome the back e.m.f.
Thus the total energy required to increase the current from 0 to I is
I

W = LIdI =
0

1 2
LI
2

This is the energy stored in an inductor

Lecture78
Lecture

27

13

Charging an Inductor
V

When you first connect a battery to an inductor:

The current through the inductor is ZERO
The back e.m.f. is high

I
L

When the inductor is carrying the full current:

The voltage across the inductor is ZERO
The current is high
VB/R

For inductors:
Voltage leads Current

Current

Reverse
Voltage
time

28

Lecture78
Lecture

Inductors in Series and Parallel

For inductors in series

L1

For inductors in parallel

L2

L1

L2

Lecture78
Lecture

29

14

Inductors in Series and Parallel

For inductors in series

L1

L2

LEQ = L1 + L2

For inductors in parallel

L1

1
1 1
= +
LEQ L1 L2

L2

30

Lecture78
Lecture

Summary of Capacitor and Inductor Formulae

I-V relationship
Stored energy
Dissipated energy

Capacitor

Inductor

Resistor

dV
dt
1
W = CV 2
2

V = L

dI
dt

V = IR

I =C

W=

1 2
LI
2

Series equivalent

1
1
1/ +

C1 C 2

Parallel equivalent

C1 + C 2

Current/voltage
timing

Current leads
voltage
Lecture78
Lecture

0
P = IV

L1 + L 2

R1 + R 2

1
1
1/ +

L
1
L
2

1
1
1/ +

1
2
R
R

Voltage leads
current

Current in phase
with voltage
31

15